15.4.13

30 Day Shred Day 1 - 5

Soooo I've seen the 30 day shred and decided to give it a go. I thought I would write about my experience with it as I've heard lots of mixed things about it - people saying its really hard, and others saying it wasn't too bad. I'm mixing it with a slightly healthier diet than normal. I'm cutting my diet coke intake down to no more than one glass a day - and trying to up my water intake as I've gotten really slack with this recently and been drinking a larger amount of caffeine than normal.

I've also been really slack with my exercise for a while now recently - I have an exercises bike but I haven't used it since January, and I haven't been to the gym since summer last year, so my fitness is most likely in a bit of a state. I'd also like to point out that I have absolutely ZERO core and upper body strength - so I'm hoping this will really help me work on that.

Because of all these factors - I was really dreading day one. I lot of people had told me how awful it would be - but actually, after finishing day 1 workout, I didn't feel as dreadful as I thought I would. I actually found the strength and toning a lot easier than the cardio - and I would definitely recommend a sports bra as ouch :( There were points where it feels a little tougher - about 10 minutes I definitely started to feel it, and then at about 20 minutes I really started to feel it, especially in my legs! The last exercise, is a killer by the way, I have nowhere near enough core strength for that (yet)!

Weight wise - I used 1kg weights, because I have absolutely no strength in my arms, and anything higher would literally destroy me. As I progress I may invest in some stronger weights, but for now, I'm sticking with these, and they were effective enough!

First thing I noticed when I woke up, was a little ache in some muscles - my core, inner thighs and a little bit on my arms. Not enough to be actual pain to prevent me from doing things though! So I completed day 2 - very much similiar points as day 1, except I noticed I was already a little more flexible with my core muscles and managed a lot of the stomach exercises a lot easier than yesterday. I found the arm toning a lot harder today though for some reason.

I woke up and my legs hurt soooo badly, in particular just one! day 3 was very much like day 2, except arm toning is getting a lot easier. I also have been two days without any caffeine!

Aaaand I so didn't feel like working out whatsoever today - why isn't the cardio getting any easier? :( Star jumps are so horrible I hate them, but my body is definitely adjusting to strength parts of the workout.

I had an awful sleep last night so when I woke up I really didn't feel like working out as I didn't feel like I had the energy. I actually feel like I had my best workout today - my body has really adapated and my endurance has improved. Even with the cardio! Tomorrow I'm hoping to re-take all my measurements just to see how its going.

If you're thinking of starting the 30 day shred, definitely give it a go - I'm very glad I started! I took a sneak peek at level 2...eek!

Did you try the 30 day shred? How do you get yourself motivated to exercise?